Handlebar ID

[Wildcat]

I have handlebars that were on a 42 Hawthorne, but I'm almost positive they weren't original. I couldn't find any markings. The ads from back then show larger half moon bars on those Victory bikes. I think they might be from a women's bike because of the width, 22 inches, but I'm not sure.
Anyone know if they put different size handlebars on women's bikes? Maybe the smaller ones were on 24" bikes. I can't find any info on the subject.

 

[John DelGato]

Pix online seem to show the wider bars on the men's and ladies Victory bikes. Nice bars btw! I don't see that style in my neck of the woods too often, big or small.

 

[John DelGato]

.... I'd love to see what the rest of the bike looks like!

 

[Wildcat]

I've got the ads from 42, the bars look wider. My bike had the wrong stem also is why I'm not sure the bars are 42 Hawthorne. My rear wheel had a Bendix hub which didn't come out until after the war in 46 so only the frame, fork, and chain wheel were original when I bought the bike in Hawaii in 2017. It was sold a few months ago as I moved to the Philippines and couldn't afford the cost of shipping. I'm going to use these bars on my latest build soon. I have the skiptooth drivetrain also to use on a future bike.

Here's before and after:

 

[nosferatu1381]

the torrigtons are nickel plate and have a little hole at the end . they are that shape

 

[nosferatu1381]

I don't know if my camera captures this or not but the nickel parts reflect yellow and chrome reflects blue. Those are really common ballooner handlebar. You can really just get an idea of the vintage based on the brass undercoat or lack of and the plate quality. They have been using them since the teens

you would be surprised about how similar bicycles are to new cars. they outsourced a lot parts than people realize and what they left the bike shop or the hardware with is not necessarily what they had on them in the catalog. All of my really old catalogs have packages you could choose when you ordered your bicycle that would have different options for the accessories

 

[Wildcat]

No little hole so they aren't torringtons. I couldn't find any lettering or marks at all. Unless someone cut the ends off. They seem a little short where the grips go on. I got them with children's grips. Nevertheless, they will work fine with the new ball end grips.

 

[nosferatu1381]

I pulled these off a skiptooth girls 24" schwinn or this 24" monark i can't remember I think the schwinn ones were solid rust

 

[Wildcat]

The finish on my bars and stem is a silver colored paint or coating. Maybe that's the nickel you mentioned.

 

[Wildcat]

While I'm at it, I checked the old Wald stem that came with the old bars. No numbers just a W in a square. Did Wald stamp earlier stems like that or is it generic?

 

[nosferatu1381]

man what year is your bike? are the hubs black too with brass letters. I think you have a wwii blackout bike man

 

[nosferatu1381]

kinda like this one
except without the tripl speed adapter

 

[Wildcat]

That's 42 Hawthorne, the serial number IDs it. It was sold to me as a 41 but being a 42 made it a wartime bike. Blackout hadn't started yet when this bike was made in early 42. The bike had a 46 or later rear wheel, because Bendix didn't make bike hubs until 46. I'm fairly sure the fork, frame and front wheel along with the Hawthorne chain wheel are the right ones, everything else is suspect. Handlebars and stem had the silver finish with patina as you can see from the original pic.
The black paint is my doing, those black rims in the other post are new Electra wheels.